Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says better teachers should be rewarded with better pay.
The former Massachusetts governor told more than 100 people at a children's museum in South Carolina that teachers are underpaid. He says they should be treated as professionals, not like assembly-line workers with a set salary.
He says compensation packages that link teachers' performance with pay would be decided on a state-by-state basis. He says he pushed for a $15,000 bonus package for the best teachers in Massachusetts, particularly math and science teachers.
Romney also says parents should have more educational options, through charter schools or vouchers, and advocates parents get tax credits for home-schooling their children.
